Families find a home

Hinton Center celebrates mutual self-help housing projects and volunteers

Sentinel photos by Harrison Keely 

Video courtesy of the Hinton Center

 

 

Story by Harrison Keely and Sherrie Keely

Patrick Cusack knows his neighbors pretty well. They spend sixteen hours together every week building relationships... and homes.

The active National Guard soldier and his neighbors will soon be moving into Wesley Meadows, a mutual self-help housing program organized by the Hinton Rural Life Center.

 

The center held a celebration for new families moving into the new Warne community on June 25.

 

"This whole process has been a learning exerience for me," Cusack said, walking through his unfinished home. "I have a small fear of heights, so it's kind of akward when.... you got to get up on that ladder to put the windows in and pray that you won't fall off. It was kind of nerve-wracking."

 

Up to seven individuals or families take part in the program at a time, working with a construction supervisor to build their first home. Individuals qualify for the program based on their family size and income.

 

Rob Lasher, an employee of Mountain Building Supply, was at last week's program to welcome his new neighbors. Rob and his wife Tammy completed their home in the development in 2005.

 

"We were the first family approved for the program," Rob said. "We actually did everything from the beginning... The first seven [residents] did just about everything on each other's houses."

 

From digging for the foundation to pouring footers and putting up framing, the Lashers sometimes spent sixty hours a week on building their house.

 

In comparison, their new neighbors are required to spend considerably less time on their homes.

 

Much of the current construction work is being subcontracted, Rob said, after the center realized how long the process took with inexperienced builders.

 

"It was probably really hard on the contractor," he said. "He was working with seven families who had no experience whatsoever and on top of that you get the volunteers. He had to instruct us from the beginning on every little detail. How to frame a wall, how to use tools..."

 

Those involved in the project work on each others' homes on top of spending time with their families and working regular jobs.

 

"They're basically building communities," Construction Supervisor Darren Cook said. "They're helping hard working folks help themselves buld a home....In essence they're building communities."

 

Cook said he enjoys working with homeowners and volunteers, teaching ordinary folks how to use tools they've never used before in their lives.

 

"I enjoy working with people who have no experience," he said. "This is not your run of the mill construction. You do have deadlines but sometimes we have to set production aside because we have to put education first."

 

Local subcontractors have discounted the cost of their labor for the project, Cook said. Hinton Center just received two $5,000 tool grants as well. Most of the project, however, is funded by the United States Department of Agriculture.

 

Hinton Center CEO and President Clay Smith said that income qualifications range from around $27,000 to $50,000.

 

"A person who starts out teaching elementary school in Clay County qualifies for this program," he said.

 

Smith said that families agree to do 50 percent of the work on their house in place of a down payment. Most of the mortgages in the development range from $95- to $115,000, he said, noting that the USDA sets the interest rate on mortgages, ensuring that new homeowners don't spend more than a third of their income on their house and related taxes and insurance.

 

New residents also take a course in financial leadership training, he said.

 

Smith said that the county government waives building permit fees and the county landfill waives dumping fees for trash generated from construction.

 

"It's a real partnership for the whole community," he said. The Hinton Center, he said, has been building new homes for 20 years.

 

Charles Penland, affordable housing coordinator for the Hinton Center, said that while subcontractors performed a reasonable amount of the work, new homeowners work hard to fulfill a sweat equity.

 

The patience required is the hardest part of building your own home, Tammy said.

 

"No body moves in until everybody does," said Beth Leinbach, administrative assistant at the Hinton Center. "It's just an awesome opportunity for the volunteers to know that they are doing something so tangible as a brand new house; It's a wonderful program for the homeowners to work together on each other's homes as a community."

 

"It's stressful buying a home and it's stressful building a home, but actually being hands on is another thing," Tammy said. "We were kind of a support group for one another, if you had a really rough day."

 

Volunteers make the workload a bit lighter, she said, stating that youth from churches across the nation come to Wesley Meadows through the Hinton Center program.

 

Smith said that approximately 1,100 volunteers pay $400 a week to come every year to complete work in the development.

 

"The people that you meet are just fascinating," Tammy said. "Every week you're working with a different group.... You have to be up for anything."

 

When Cusack first arrived at Wesley Meadows, the Lashers' house was the first home he saw. Cusack said that on occasion owners of completed homes will contribute their time to new projects at the development. 

 

Many of the volunteers, he said, have used marker to write encouraging messages and favorite Bible verses on the framing studs in his unfinished house.

 

"We are walking in the light of God" reads one such note above his home's electrical panel. Another board simply says "John 3:17."

 

At the June 25 ceremony, Reverend Rufus Stark, chairperson for the board of directors at the Hinton Center, dedicated the new homes and blessed new residents in the development. Near the end of the program Bill Kenyon was honored by Smith for his dedication to volunteering on projects. 

 

Cook encouraged individuals and organizations interested to volunteer with projects at the Hinton Center. 

 

"It's such a good experience for us but it's such a good experience for them," Tammy said. "They're really giving to others. It just makes us want to give more to our community."

 

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